Saudi Arabia is venturing into a territory normally reserved for automakers. The kingdom is developing the Ghazal, a sport-utility vehicle for the hazards of the desert, to diversify its economy beyond oil.

AMMAN, Jordan Jordan's powerful Muslim Brotherhood said Friday it will boycott upcoming parliamentary elections in protest over recent changes to the kingdom's election laws, which it says fall short of opposition demands.

BEIRUT The U.N. singled out government forces Friday for blame in the latest massacre in Syria, a frenzy of killing that raises new questions about whether diplomacy has any chance to end the crisis more than 16 months into the bloodiest revolt of the Arab Spring.

BERLIN Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he is not afraid of meeting the same fate as the deposed and disgraced leaders of Libya and Egypt, saying he has nothing in common with them.